Tag: IoT

More-distant operation might prove riskierGetty By Paul Marks Some of the dumbest inventions of recent decades are bursting forth from that wonder of our age, the internet of things (IoT). Take, for instance, the connected “killer kettle”. You can turn it on at the click of a smartphone app – even when the kettle is empty, creating a fire risk. Then there are smart sockets that can be activated by an app, perhaps turning on electric fires that your housemate has since placed near something flammable. And let’s not forget…

This op-ed originally appeared in the March 12, 2018 issue of SpaceNews magazine. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (left) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (right) are both worth roughly $20 billion on paper, but Masa’s telecom ventures generate massive amounts of cash while Musk’s biggest company, Tesla, is still losing money. Credit: Flickr.com The public has become more aware of space over the past several weeks. The awareness has been brought about by the masterful publicity of Elon Musk and SpaceX, with the company having recently performed its first launch of…

There’s a running joke regarding connected gadgets and the internet of things: “The ‘S’ in IoT stands for security.” And yes, I’m aware there’s no “S” in IoT. Oleg Šelajev, a lead developer for Oracle Labs, coined the phrase in 2016, and it pops up almost every time researchers find security flaws with a connected device. And it happens a lot. Think security cameras. Or toys. Or smart locks. Yet homes, businesses and facilities are stocking up with more connected devices to make their lives easier. IoT devices are expected…

WASHINGTON — The launch of several cubesats by an American company without authorization from a federal agency has the rest of the industry worried of a potential regulatory and public relations backlash. IEEE Spectrum first reported March 10 that Swarm Technologies, a Silicon Valley-based startup operating in stealth mode, flew four picosatellites as secondary payloads on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in January. The SpaceBee satellites were identified in materials by the Indian space agency at the time as “two-way satellite communications and data relay” satellites, but did not…

WASHINGTON — In a surprise shift, Eutelsat Communications, a staunch defender of geostationary satellites as the way forward, on March 8 said it is buying a low Earth orbit (LEO) demonstration nanosatellite. Another new entrant to LEO, Australia- and New Zealand-focused Optus Satellite is joining Canadian fleet operator Telesat in testing its LEO prototype satellite that launched in January. Paris-based Eutelsat and Optus bring to eight the number of geostationary satellite operators that are openly investing in, building, or partnering with non-geostationary satellite ventures, joining Intelsat, SES, Telesat, Sky Perfect Jsat,…

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will be released later this year, mobile chief DJ Koh confirmed during an interview at Mobile World Congress. DJ Koh was speaking during a press conference after the Galaxy S9 launch event in Barcelona. The Samsung mobile boss confirmed plans to launch a new entry in the best-selling Galaxy Note series later this year. DJ Koh also hinted one of the headline features of the new handset would be a second-generation of Samsung’s in-house smart assistant, Bixby. The executive told ZDnet: “For Bixby 1.0, we focused…

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will be released later this year, mobile chief DJ Koh confirmed during an interview at Mobile World Congress. DJ Koh was speaking during a press conference after the Galaxy S9 launch event in Barcelona. The Samsung mobile boss confirmed plans to launch a new entry in the best-selling Galaxy Note series later this year. DJ Koh also hinted one of the headline features of the new handset would be a second-generation of Samsung’s in-house smart assistant, Bixby. The executive told ZDnet: “For Bixby 1.0, we focused…

James Martin/CNET As lawmakers and federal investigators continue to try to understand the chaos foreign actors were able to create during the 2016 election, the US Department of Homeland Security has taken a central role in helping secure the next election. The agency declared the US election system, which is run by a fragmented group of officials in all 50 states as well as dozens of smaller local governments, to be a part of the nation’s “critical infrastructure” in January 2017. The agency doesn’t have any legal authority over election…

But the international police organisation is highlighting how all devices which can connect to the internet – known as the Internet of Things (IoT) – are potentially at risk of a cyber attack. It says cyber attacks targeting IoTs, which can include smart home devices, have increased significantly in the past two years and means police and cyber investigators are having to develop their skills to learn how to collect evidence from connected devices other than computers and phones. To help tackle this new threat, 43 investigators and digital forensics…

Fitness tracking app Strava recently kicked off a privacy and security storm after it was revealed that its software had potentially exposed the location of secret military bases, courtesy of a data visualisation tool called a “heatmap”. The heatmap was created to depict the activities of Strava users across the globe. But while it’s a great idea in general (and quite a nice heatmap), a closer inspection of the user data generated by the tool highlights some worrying developments. It’s also a reality check for consumers of wearable gadgets –…